


Cupid, please hear my cry

by mjonesing (klassmartin)



Series: Music sounds better with you [6]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Actual Disaster Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, and a Good Cupid this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klassmartin/pseuds/mjonesing
Summary: Peter falls in love at 5:47 on the Flushing Line Subway route.In all his twenty-one years, he had never really believed in love at first sight. He still doesn’t, not really, because that would imply the object of his affection has any idea he exists.Not that’s she’s an object; she’s a person and a woman and a -Ugh. Better to just start over.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: Music sounds better with you [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921150
Comments: 23
Kudos: 70
Collections: The Spideychelle Shuffle





	Cupid, please hear my cry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spidermanhomecomeme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spidermanhomecomeme/gifts).



> For the Decades Special Edition of the Spotify Shuffle Game.
> 
> Song: Cupid by Sam Cooke

Peter falls in love at 5:47 on the Flushing Line Subway route.

In all his twenty-one years, he had never really believed in love at first sight. He still doesn’t, not really, because that would imply the object of his affection has any idea he exists.

Not that’s she’s an object; she’s a person and a woman and a -

Ugh. Better to just start over.

The first time he sees her, she’s giving up her seat for a pregnant lady that’s just boarded. She drops her coat and a nearby passenger unintentionally stands on it, and she pulls this face of such disgust at her outerwear touching the grimy floor of the subway cart that he almost snorts hot coffee out of his nose.

A week passes before he spots her again. She’s huddled into the back corner, holding the high rail with the sleeve of her jumper and a book with one of those fancy Classics covers in the other hand. She’s so engrossed that her nose is almost pressed to the page, and all he can really see of her is the curve of her eyebrows and the bun haphazardly holding her hair out of her face. He probably wouldn’t have even recognised her, if not for the infamous coat that’s slung over her arm.

Still, this is only two glimpses of one girl in a city of eight million. It doesn’t have to be remarkable.

Except that very evening he sees her  _ again _ , reading a completely different book, and what are the chances that two people in this very large city get onto the same subway cart twice in one day?

He does the math. It’s the tiniest of likelihoods.

On the fifth sighting, Peter comes to the conclusion that she’s a student, just like him. There’s no real basis for this conclusion other than she gives off a decidedly student vibe, which is later confirmed when he sees her in the campus library. He figures out, as the weeks progress, that her interests are as varied as they are intriguing; he sees her carrying art folders and oil pastels one morning and a protest sign the next, then a week later there’s a European History textbook peeking out of the top of her bag. 

He has no idea why she heads into the city so early every day, unless she’s bagged a dreary-eyed morning shift at a local coffee shop like him - though why he accepted the position when he’s out so late every night continues to baffle him. He spends a train ride trying to picture her in various professions until he realises that when he daydreams, he stares, and she gets far too close to catching him.

He forces himself to turn around, ignoring the disappointed tug of his heart.

Still, he brushes off his feelings as nothing more than a crush, an entertaining twist to the boredom of public transport. This is how he presents it to his best friend, when he’s no longer able to keep biting his tongue over the latest thing he’s learned about her.

Ned gives him a look that says he isn’t fooling anyone but himself, but what does he know?

He’s loitering around the campus library far too close to closing, pretending to be exploring one of the stacks that just so happens to be near the table she’s occupying - only he pretends too well, accidentally stumbling across something that captures his attention for just a moment, because when he surreptitiously glances up the girl has vanished. His shoulders sag with disappointment and he slumps against the shelves, defeated and annoyed that it’s been several months and he’s yet to find the courage to talk to her.

Peter grabs his bag from where it’s resting beside his feet, and it’s then that he sees it - the thick and clunky textbook she’s just been rifling through for an hour, pink highlighter between her teeth, and it’s just lying on the floor beside her evacuated chair.

Glancing up and down the room and spotting no one, Peter edges cautiously closer until he’s basically on top of it. When he continues to be alone, he bends down to pick it up in the quickest move he’s ever managed - an impressive feat, really, considering. Once the book is in his hand, Peter realises with a jolt of panic that this is proof that his dream girl actually exists. Like, she’s not a figment of his imagination or a hallucination or - This girl is  _ real _ , and when he finds the strength to move his thumb and open the front cover, he finds out her name is Michelle.

Okay, Peter. No need to freak out. It’s just a name.

Only it’s not _just_ a name; now his thoughts are overflowing with this new piece of information, because it’s not just ‘Subway girl’ who likes drinking strange smelling teas in the morning, it’s  _Michelle_ who likes drinking strange smelling teas, and suddenly she’s not just a person he likes to admire from afar but a real, actual person who he’s been casually creeping on since the academic year began.

This is why Peter marches the book straight to the front desk and hands it in instead of keeping it for the next time he sees her. 

Not because he’s absolutely terrified of facing her and the mess he’s undoubtedly made of a decent first impression.

Peter expresses his horror at his own actions to Ned, who continues to answer his best friend’s thoughts and fears with exasperated looks and not-at-all supportive words.

He resolves that the best way to fix his situation is to wake up even earlier and get the train before, and to scatter his homecoming trips to various times so he cannot be tracked.

Annoyingly, it seems Michelle - no,  _the girl,_ names are too terrifying \- has a similar idea, as just two mornings after he executes this plan, she’s there in the subway cart, perched on the edge of a seat with that damn textbook in her lap and the highlighter back between her teeth.

This does absolutely nothing for his crush, because he spends the rest of the journey fixated on her mouth.

Peter is at his wits end with the whole thing, and decides the only way to deal with this whole thing properly is to transfer to an out-of-state college and never show his face again in New York City.

It might be a slightly dramatic approach, but it’s for the best, he’s sure. Peter makes plans with Ned to meet him after his morning shift at the coffee shop, telling him he has some big news. It’ll break his friend’s heart, but Ned will understand in the end. Everyone knows the only way to get over a crush is to make a dramatic, life-altering change. Like giving yourself bangs, only this is a little more permanent.

The bell chimes from above the front door and instinctively, Peter knows it’s Ned. He calls out a half-hearted greeting and finishes wiping down the corner booth, using his free hand to wipe at the sweat beading on his forehead. It’s been a long and busy morning, and Peter is ready for a cup of coffee and a heart-to-heart.

“Hey, Peter,” Ned says in a tone that is far too casual. Peter turns around and his jaw drops to the floor. “This is my Chem partner, Michelle.”

Peter loses any ounce of control he previously had of his limbs. 

Up close, she’s devastatingly beautiful, with soulful brown eyes and a gentle uptick to her lips. Her hair frames her face and the morning sun streaming in the window sets it in an angelic glow. She’s a little taller, her long legs wrapped in the torn faded jeans he’s seen her in a dozen times.

Damn, he’s a goner.

“Oh,” she says, and Peter almost melts into a puddle; he’s never heard her voice before and it’s doing things to him. “You’re the creeper from the train.”

Well, if that isn’t just a bucket of ice water to jolt him out of his love daze.

Peter stumbles mortifyingly over his words until Ned widens his eyes and nods his head towards her, mouthing a fierce,  _ be cool _ .

Peter looks back to her, clearing his throat to refind the ability to talk he’s had since he was a toddler, when he notices the amusement in her eyes.

Oh, she’s messing with him.

Once he realises that, he’s hit with the next wrecking ball: she knows who he is.

As in, she’s  _ seen  _ him.

_ Knows  _ he’s been observing her. 

“Y-Yeah,” is the only word that seems to successfully form on his tongue.

Dear God, Peter, pull yourself together.

Ned drops his face into his hands, clearly agreeing. 

“You, uh, you live in Queens too?” she says, pulling a face immediately afterwards as the awkwardness continues to grow. 

“Yup.”

Silence descends. Peter needs the ground to immediately swallow him up, thank you very much.

“I’m not a creep,” he blurts out, hands tugging desperately at the cleaning cloth still in his hands. “I just - I noticed we got the same train a lot and isn’t that weird, both of us always in the same section at the same time? The odds are tiny, I worked it out and -“

“What about the library?” she asks, smirk tugging at her lips as he exhales a sigh of relief at her cutting him off. 

“That was just good timing.” And then, to make things worse, he adds on, “So you’ve seen me too? Now who’s the creeper.”

Surprisingly, Michelle flushes. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

Peter squeaks out a laugh. “I guess what I meant to say is, you’re kinda hard to miss.”

“Was that a compliment?” 

“If you want it to be.” 

She presses her lips together and juts her chin out a little further. “There’s more to me than just my appearance.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about that.” Peter takes a break to inhale properly for the first time since he saw her. “Maybe you can give me the chance to find out?”

Michelle finally smiles, wide and happy and breathtaking. 

“What did you have in mind?”

**Author's Note:**

> @mjonesing on Tumblr as always


End file.
